You’ve all been there. It was a long day at work and the commute was worse than usual.  You don’t feel like cooking, but even your kids are getting tired of Happy Meals.  Now you have another option. Hotshots is a new business that offers delivery from local restaurants to all of the 70726 zip code as well as areas of the 70706 and 70785 area.  That’s further than the pizza places go.  You can view the online menus and place your order at www.hotshotdinners.com or just call 664-3456 if you have a favorite item in mind. You can even place an advance order from work and schedule it to arrive at your home when you do.  Currently Hotshots is offering delivery starting at 4:30 till 10:00, but will be expanding service to include lunch in the coming weeks.

Anyone from the Southeast part of East Baton Rouge Parish that has ever had a donut, has more than likely had one of Jay’s Donuts. Jay’s has been a part of Southeast Baton Rouge since the mid 70s and was originally located on Cedarcrest near Airline. The bakery now sits on the corner of South Harrell’s Ferry and O’neal and has been there since 1987. Aside from great pastry products including donuts, muffins and king cakes, Jay’s is well known in the area for the quirky messages he often puts up on his sign out front  poking fun at current political topics or issues around Baton Rouge. Unfortunately, however, because of a current roadway project in Baton Rouge, Jay’s will be forced to close his doors at the current location. The Baton Rouge Green Light Plan is currently executing the much needed upgrade to the intersection on which Jay’s Donuts is located. South Harrell’s Ferry Road at O’Neal Lane is being widened to a full 4 lane intersection, which is a part of a full 4 lane upgrade to O’Neal in both directions and Harrell’s Ferry Road to the west, all the way to it’s intersection with Sherwood Forest Blvd. If you live in the area (as I do) and have to use O’Neal Lane daily, then infrastructure improvements such as these are a very welcomed site. However, if you live in the area and are a regular customer at Jay’s Donuts, then you are also sad that there are some unwelcome results to the expansion we so desperately need.  Unfortunately, since Jay’s is located on such a small piece of property, once the city buys all the land they need for the road expansion, there will not be enough left for Jay’s to continue to operate.

Jay’s owner, Jay Lindsey has a current offer on the table from the City Parish, for his property, losses and relocation expenses. After speaking with Jay briefly at a recent meeting, he is concerned that the offer made to him will not be sufficient enough to relocate his donut shop to a comparable location. When eminent domain takes enough of a portion of property that the current business located there has to relocate, it is the responsibility of the city government to supply the owner with enough money to relocate his establishment to a comparable location and a comparable facility. Jay is currently looking at other possible locations in East Baton Rouge Parish, but will not be moving forward with any plans until he settles up with the City Parish.  The grim side of these situations for business/property owners  is that whether or not you agree with what the City offers you for the hassle of closing, rebuilding and relocating, you must be gone, one way or another, on the date that they set forth. For Jay’s, this date is March 28th, which is currently displayed on his sign out front.

For local Jay’s fans, Jay says that he has not found anywhere in the immediate area that he feels is a good enough location to rebuild, so it looks like even if he continues to carry on the Jay’s tradition, residents of the Jones Creek, Shenendoah, White Oak Landing and St. Jean area will have to travel a good bit to enjoy those hot donuts they have grown so accustomed to having. We will keep you posted on the Jay’s Donuts story as it continues to unfold, so stay tuned here for the latest updates. In the meantime, if you have a Facebook account, you can join the Jay’s Donuts page by clicking here.

City Cafe is a locally owned favorite in Southeast Baton Rouge. It sits at the corner of O’Neal Lane and George O’Neal. The restaurant is owned and operated by Charles “Squeaky” Miranda and has been in the Miranda family since 1919. It was started in Plaquemine, Louisiana by his parents Jimmy and Marie Miranda. Over the years the restaurant became a favorite meeting spot for the town as well as local plant workers. A fire in 1994 closed the business temporarily but it was sold in 1998. In 2002, Charles decided to reopen the family restaurant at its current location in Baton Rouge using many of the original dishes from the Plaquemine location. Since its grand reopening here, City Cafe has been a huge success. It is known as the neighborhood bar and grill by the locals of Southeast Baton Rouge. I must admit that I, too, am a regular customer here due partly to the proximity of the restaurant, but mostly by the friendly atmosphere, excellent menu items and modest pricing.

To start off, check out the Appetizer portion of the menu. It is loaded with excellent starters such as fried dill pickles, boudin balls and pepper jelly shrimp. The regular menu is loaded with a great seafood selection, such as fried shrimp, catfish, oysters or a combo of any of the three.  Also available seasonally are boiled shrimp, crabs or crawfish. If you like your seafood with a little more style, you may wanna check out the special entree section of the menu that features items like Catfish Atchafalaya, the Montegut or the Ahi Tuna with fresh spinach. The Atchafalaya is a generous portion of fried catfish served over rice and topped with City’s own crawfish etoufee while the Montegut features the fresh fish of the day, blackened and pan sauteed then served with shrimp in a white wine butter sauce and a stuffed potato with vegetables.  You can also choose from a variety of fresh salads topped with shrimp, crawfish, chicken or tuna or a poboy, stuffed with shrimp, catfish, oysters or hot roast beef with gravy. For more details on menu items, check out the full menu at the link below.

Don’t forget that City Cafe is also a great choice for parties, catering and tailgate packs! Check out the tailgating menu at the link below and give them a call with the details.

Be sure to drop in anytime and ask for Squeaky!

City Cafe | 4710 O’Neal Lane @ George O’Neal | 225-753-4420
Website | Dinner-Tailgate Menu | Brunch Menu

City Cafe Photos:

At one time or another, we’ve all been down that health/fitness road. Some succumb to the temptation of looking & feeling great and others only dream about going to the health club while relaxing at home on the couch watching TV (and ironically, getting bombarded with fitness infomercials).

There are numerous ways to go about acting on this sudden bolt of motivation you get from seeing a swimsuit model or simply stepping on the bathroom scale and seeing ‘TILT’ appear in the LCD readout. The easiest way is to head on over to the nearest sporting goods store, plop down around 100 bucks and buy a low end weight bench with a couple of barbells. Unfortunately, 90% of the time all you are paying for a new place to put dirty clothes after you complete your 2 full days of actually pumping iron. Another way of battling the flab is to march yourself right on down to the nearest gym, take the nickel tour and sign up for the contract. Now you are stuck paying monthly for what could be 2 years or so which, in itself should be motivation enough to get your butt down there and get what you’re paying for, shouldn’t it? Unfortunately, that is not the case most of the time. The only workout a large portion of gym members get is writing a check to the gym every month and walking out to the mailbox to mail it! (Yeah I know you pay your bills online, but that really wouldn’t have worked for this example) For the few who do take a liking to the gym, its the same routine day in day out. Just you, a few muscle heads staring at themselves in the mirror for hours on end and some cheesy music playing in the background. Working out alone is boring and very lacking in the motivation department. It’s rather difficult to find someone who shares the same schedule with you (work and fitness) and who is willing to stick it out with you as well.

That brings us to the solution of solutions to your workout woes. Momentum Group Fitness in Baton Rouge offers group fitness classes (thus the name) 7 days a week. Among some of the activities offered are spinning, yoga and body pump.  Group exercise is a great way to achieve higher levels of fitness. Whether your goal is to build and tone your body or fine tune the body you already have, you will find that Momentum Group Fitness has plenty to offer you. Some classes start as early as 5:00 AM while others continue throughout the day. See their class schedule for more details. On site are several instructors who have been specially trained to motivate the group (you included) to achieve their fitness goals. They are all very friendly, good at what they do and they all will actually be working out with you, not just sitting there collecting money and ‘coaching’ you through the sessions.

One of the best classes at Momentum has got to be the circuit training. This consists of 20 different exercise stations (all in one room) that cover every muscle group. Each station is performed for one minute non-stop with a 20 second break in between stations. Twice (or more) around the circuit is a great way to start your day. Circuit training is held on Tuesday and Thursday starting at 5:00 AM and running until 9:30 AM. There is also a circuit class on Wednesday from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.

Momentum also offers spin classes 7 days a week.  Spinning takes place on a specially designed stationary bicycle called a spinning bike. As you pedal, motivating music plays and the instructor (who is spinning with you) talks you through a visualization of an outdoor cycling workout. Spinning burns serious calories and offers an awesome aerobic workout that really gets your heart pumping. It also tones your quadriceps  and outer thigh muscles. Although you follow the general instructions of the spinning teacher, you are in control when it comes to your pace. You can finish a spin class, regardless of your level, simply by adjusting your pace or the tension knob on the bike.

If you would like to contact Momentum Group Fitness, feel free to email Beth Cowley, program director for the facility. She will have the answers to any questions you may have (unless they are related to roller blading). You are also encouraged to visit and have a look around. We have included their address and phone number below.

Take it from me, group fitness is the way to go. It makes the time you spend working out so much more enjoyable and the motivation level is tripled. Give Momentum a try, you won’t be sorry you did!

Momentum Group Fitness
8841 Highland Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Phone: 225-389-6307
Fax: 225-389-6309

Website | Schedule | Instructors | Contact